


Tyme series one-shots

by thanks_for_using_grammar



Category: Tyme series
Genre: COULD be taken as child abuse, Clement being a cheating scumbag, Dash as a child, Dash tries hard to be socially aware, Ella almost losing her temper, F/M, Feels, Heartbroken queen Maud, Hurt/Comfort, I'll make up tags as I go along, M/M, Swearing, because i ship them, but that's expected of him, gay fairy godfathers, he tries SO hard poor baby, no i am not sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29405583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanks_for_using_grammar/pseuds/thanks_for_using_grammar
Summary: Rapunzel and Jack get ice cream at midnight, Dash sees his father kissing another woman, Serge falls into a river in February and much more: A series of one-shots about The Tyme series, because I love it. (Some may be silly, only the spawn of random fan-girly thoughts that strike in the night)
Relationships: Ella/Dash, Jasper/Serge, Rapunzel/Jack
Comments: 7
Kudos: 1





	1. Ice cream

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of a silly one I thought about while staring at my sketchbook wondering what to draw. I drew Jack and Rapunzel getting ice cream. Thus...here is my creation.

“Jack. Jack.”  
Jack shoved his head deeper into the pillows, still in between the hazy world of dreams and concrete reality.  
“Jack. Jack, wake up.”  
Now fully awake, Jack had time to be properly annoyed. Who was waking him up? He looked up blearily and blinked a few times. Rapunzel, silhouetted by the moonlight trickling in from the dingy inn’s window, was crouching in front of him, looking very, very awake.

“What...are you doing?” Jack mumbled, his sleep numb mouth mangling the words slightly.  
“Can we get ice cream?” Rapunzel asked.

Rapunzel was like that sometimes. Odd, like you couldn’t guess what was going on in her head. Innocent, a little idiotic, one might even say ignorant at first glance. But once you got to know her, you would see the other parts of her. She would go out of her way to help a snail cross the road as often as she would lead a lost child back to their mother. She would climb the highest wall or swim through the deepest ocean if she thought it would help somebody, to Gegull with the consequences. Her innocence was not a weakness, as one might think, but a strength. People trusted Rapunzel, somehow naturally. She had a way with people that Jack envied sometimes. She was stronger than she looked, both physically and emotionally, and that strength seemed to shine from her like a brilliant light. Jack would do anything to protect that light. Anything.

But currently, he just wanted sleep.

“What time is it?” He said, the feeling or irritation oddly disconnected from him due to the after-affects of sleep.

Rapunzel shrugged. “I don’t know. Midnight, I think.”

Jack groaned and turned over on his side with his back to her. “Go to sleep, Rapunzel.”  
“But I’m not sleepy.” Rapunzel poked him, and Jack was reminded of many arguments with his sister. “I’m hungry.”  
Jack didn’t turn over. “We can get something to eat in the morning. It’s dangerous running around in a town at night,”  
“But I want ice cream.”  
“I’m not getting you ice cream.”  
“Please?”  
“No.”  
“...I won’t stop until I get ice cream.”

Jack suddenly sat up and turned to her, glaring, bags under his eyes. “Listen.” He said slowly, his voice deadly. “I’m not getting you ice cream.”  
***

Thirty minutes later they were standing in front of an ice cream shop.

“I hate you.” Jack growled.

The shop was the only one he could find that was open at the late hour. The moon hung in the sky shining down on the village, he stars twinkling in the sky with a cold light. Jack shivered and clutched his jacket closer against him. Rapunzel seemed impervious to the cold, and was instead happily gazing at the bright little shop .It was nothing much to look at, just a stall, but it glowed with a buttery light. Jack’s head was fuzzy from exhaustion, and his eyes felt like they were being squeezed by an invisible force as he blinked at the bright light. The shop was out of the way of normal passerby, but Jack had been told by a shop owner where it was. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have found the place. He still had no idea how Rapunzel had managed to drag him across town to get ice cream at ass-o’-clock at night, not to mention why she even wanted ice cream in the first place.

“C’mon Jack!” Rapunzel chirped, taking his hand and leading him to the shop. Her hand was warm in his, and he clutched at it gratefully. “I can’t believe you.” Jack grumbled. “Ice cream, I swear...”  
Rapunzel shrugged. “I just felt like it.” She began skipping, forcing Jack to skip alongside her. “Besides, it’s kind of fun, isn’t it? Sneaking around town, getting ice cream.”  
Jack could see her point. Skipping in the dark, lightheaded and sleepy. It was certainly a new feeling, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to call it fun just yet.  
“Skies...” He muttered under his breath as they came closer to the shop, suddenly struck by the hilarity of the whole thing. Here they were, getting dessert, at midnight. He stifled an absurd giggle, but apparently Rapunzel didn’t care who heard her, for she laughed gaily as she sprinted.

They stood in front of the stall’s open window, waiting for the bedraggled woman rummaging around in some bins on the other side to notice them. When she finally straightened up they could see she looked exhausted. She smiled tiredly as Jack and Rapunzel came into view. She didn’t seem to recognize Rapunzel due to her exhaustion, and Jack sighed in relief.  
“Oh, hello. What can I get you?”

Rapunzel turned to Jack. “You want any?”

Jack didn’t hesitate before replying, “What I want is sleep.”

Rapunzel turned to the woman. “We’ll have two chocolate ice creams, please.”

Jack rolled his eyes, but found that he didn’t care too much. The woman ducked beneath the counter and returned with two cones to brown, drippy sugary goodness.  
They accepted them, and Rapunzel licked hers happily as Jack paid for their food. They walked on, back down the path they had come, and Jack found that ice cream at midnight isn’t actually that bad. The taste was sharp and sweet on his tongue, chasing away the vague, sleepy morning feel of his mouth. It was still cold, but not as unbearable now. But Jack had meant what he had said about it being dangerous to be out after dark, and he knew they needed to get back to the inn.

“So,” He said. “No that you’ve got your ice cream, will you sleep?”

Rapunzel looked at him, dismayed. “Not yet. I want to go tot he lake.”  
Jack was so taken aback at this comment that he forgot to be irritated. “The lake? Why?”  
Rapunzel bit her lower lip, and Jack recognized the vulnerability on her face. Something was bothering her.  
“You know what?” He said, deciding. “Fine. Let’s go to the lake.”

Rapunzel looked relieved that she wouldn’t have to argue. They walked together in silence as they neared Lake Tureen. It wasn’t far from the inn they were staying at, and the trip took only an hour or so. The water was unmoving in the dim light the lamps cast over the surface. It was summer, and so the fireflies were out, blinking now and then. Rapunzel was entirely enchanted at the scene, and gazed at the lake, hardly noticing that her ice cream was dripping all over her hand. Jack watched her expression of amazement, and a happy, bubbly feeling floated around in his chest. He never grew tired of this. No matter how many times it happened, he always loved watching these moments of pure wonder, the way her eyes lit up at something new, even if it was accompanied by lots of running and screaming.  
“You’re dripping.” He remarked, pointing to her hand and cone. She tore her eyes away from the scene in front of them long enough to look down, and she licked her hand free of the dripping chocolate.  
When she was finished, Jack asked the question that had been burning inside him since she woke him up. “Why did you want ice cream?”

She stiffened. “I just wanted some.”  
“No, seriously.” Jack admonished. “Why?”  
Rapunzel’s eyes darkened as though a veil were cast over them. It was a look he was (unfortunately) familiar with. Jack wanted to reach over and rip that veil off, to hold her until her pain went away, but he knew it wouldn’t help in the long run. So he watched and waited.  
“I was...thinking about her.” She swallowed. “Witch.”

Jack’s cone cracked as he unconsciously clenched his fist. Nevertheless, his voice was gentle as he said, “Yeah?”  
Rapunzel nodded, her face strangely blank. “...She used to bring me ice cream. On my birthdays. She would come to my tower and we would eat ice cream together and play jacks.” She looked down at her cone. “It was the thing I most looked forward to on my birthdays.”  
She shook her head sharply. “No. It wasn’t the ice cream I looked forward to, it was...”  
“Seeing her?” Jack guessed softly.  
Rapunzel nodded again, visibly swallowing. “Seeing her, and having her stay for the entire d-day.”  
She sniffed and put her free hand to her face, as though if she pressed hard enough the tears wouldn’t come out. Jack reached for her and touched her shoulder lightly. “I know you’re in pain,” He stated not unkindly. “I know that you miss her. It’s okay to cry about it. It’s okay to hurt.”

Rapunzel choked back a small sob, and Jack reached over and pulled her into a one armed hug. She leaned into it, and though it was a bit awkward (she was definitely taller than him, after all) it seemed to comfort her. They stood there for a while, looking out at the lake.

Finally, Rapunzel sagged a little and yawned. “I’m...tired.”

Jack hid a grin. “Then let’s go back.”

Together, they turned around and headed back to the inn.


	2. a sickeninging revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What goes through your mind when you see your own father with another woman?

Dash still remembers every detail. Every noise, every texture, every small noise of pleasure the woman made as his own father’s hands touched the sides of her face. No matter how much time passes, he still sees it in his mind’s eye.

Because that was when it all changed for him, that one event.

He hadn’t actively been looking for his father when it happened. He had only been wandering around the stadium at the ATC, following a bumblebee. He had been about six. Of course, it shouldn’t have been that easy to get away from his Mother or any of the servants, but everybody was too busy paying attention to the games to think about a little boy who just happened to be a prince.  
He had wandered away from the games and was doing some more wandering in a little patch of reeds by the side of the river, hidden by thick trees and high grasses, playing with dirt. He knew that his father would be angry if he got mud on his royal sash, but Dash had only been six years old at the time, and couldn’t care less.

He hadn’t realized how dark it was getting until people started flooding out of the stadium, and he realized he had missed it. Getting up, dusting himself off, preparing to go back to his mother, he heard noises from behind him. He turned, and, to his delight, saw a space that was begging to be played in. It was a little clearing sheltered by falling willow trees. He scrambled into the space, giggling in delight at his discovery. After a while, he heard footsteps. He thought that somebody must have been looking for him, and entertained the idea of hiding, but ultimately decided to make himself shown. He began to crawl forward on his little hands and knees, but stopped when he heard his father’s voice.

“Where has he gotten off to?!”

He sounded angry. And worried. Dash paused in his crawling. He didn’t want to face his father’s anger, but didn’t want to concern him, either. Torn, he stayed there, frozen, until he heard another pair of footsteps coming toward his little hiding spot.

His father spoke first. “Ah. I was expecting to see you here.”

The stranger spoke, a lazy, honeyed voice that seemed to drip femininity like molasses. “Of course I would be here. I knew you would be here.”

His father sounded amused as he said “My my, Stephanie, you came here for the specific purpose of looking for me?”

“Perhaps more than look,” The woman purred, and Dash heard slow footsteps. He peeked out of his hiding place, and received the shock of his life.  
The woman (whom Dash assumed was named Stephanie) was a fair-haired beauty, with an elegantly rumpled dress and expensive shoes. Dash couldn’t see the color of her eyes because they were closed. His father’s eyes were closed as well. They were both wrapped around each other, kissing passionately.

His father was kissing another woman.

A woman that wasn’t his mother.

Dash backed away quickly, scuffing up dirt as he did so, but the couple was so invested in what they were doing that he figured they didn’t hear. He was confused. Why would his father kiss Stephanie? Was this normal parent behavior? Was his mother, in fact, kissing other men?  
Granted, his parents didn’t kiss often, but when they did, it was with the obvious intention of saying I love you. Dash would feel happy by the fact that his parents loved each other, and that they loved him.  
But now, here was his father, practically saying I love you to another woman. Those words were sacred with Dash and his mother, exchanged when they were hugging, or when she was proud of him.  
Dash thought they were sacred to his father as well, but here he was, kissing Stephanie.

“You are exceptionally beautiful tonight.” His father was murmuring into Stephanie’s ear as they broke apart. Stephanie laughed, a heavy, seductive laugh that made Dash’s spine prickle because what was she doing speaking like that to his father?!

“You always say that, darling.” Stephanie purred, and his father smiled.  
“That is because you always are.” He leaned in to kiss her again.  
Dash’s breathing was coming faster. He didn’t want to be here. Didn’t want to be a part of anything that was happening, didn’t want to know who the strange woman was, didn’t want to know what she was doing…  
But it was too late. He had seen it, and trying to pretend that he didn’t know wouldn’t make it go away.  
He sneezed, and his father and Stephanie stopped kissing. Dash felt cold dread grip his heart, a foreign feeling that makes him shudder. He thought wildly of running, but his father was already marching into the willow clearing, looking around. His eyes fell on his son, and they widened in surprise–and then narrowed.

He reached for Dash and Dash scooted back a little, animal instincts kicking in. His father grabbed Dash’s arm and dragged him forward a little. “So this is where you are.” He stated calmly.  
Dash was brought outside of the clearing, and was now looking up into the face of Stephanie. He gazed at her, trying to convey, without words, (for he found he could not speak) just how disgusted he was at her antics. She wrinkled her nose and looked up at his father.

“Go.” His father said to her, his grip still tight on Dash’s arm. “I will see you later.”

She nodded, turned on her heel, and set off into the falling blackness.

Dash looked down at the ground, heart pounding, not knowing what to say. He felt the steely gaze of his father boring into him. “...Did you see anything, son?” He said at last, his voice expressionless.

Dash didn’t look up. “Why were you kissing that lady?”

Dash suddenly felt his father jerk his arm, so that Dash snapped his head up to look at his father. His father’s face was still blank. “I would like it if you didn’t tell your mother about this, Dash.”  
Dash swallowed, feeling the pressure on his arm increase. “Why did you kiss her?”  
His father’s face was now only and inch from his. “Will you tell your mother?”  
“Why did you kiss her?”

“Dash, will you tell your mother?”

“Why-”

Suddenly, it was like a dam of emotion had broke, spilling across his father’s face. His handsome features were contorted in worry, fear...and rage.  
“Will you tell your mother?!” He hissed in Dash’s face, and Dash turned away.

He had no idea what to say. He just knew that he had so say SOMETHING to make this better. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I didn’t want to look, I didn’t want to see, I won’t tell anybody, I–”

Apparently satisfied, his father let go of his arm and straightened up. Dash fell onto the ground, stunned at what just happened. He looked up and gazed at his father with wounded and shocked eyes. His father suddenly smiled, a charming and sunny smile, one that was so different from his previous expression that Dash stared. He offered his hand to Dash. “Now, let’s get you back. Your mother is worried sick.”  
Dash, scared, confused, hesitant, took his father’s hand, and together, they walked back to the stadium.

***

When Dash’s mother hugged him and asked him where he was, Dash told her he was playing in the reeds. She believed him. Dash wanted to tell her so bad, if only to know what it meant when one’s father kissed another lady. But he didn’t. He was afraid of facing his father’s anger.  
But he was young, and kids as everybody knows, kids can’t keep a secret, or keep in a question. So, maybe two weeks later, he walks into his mother’s chamber, where she’s sitting a desk chair, reading a memo, and asks what it means if a man kisses a woman he isn’t married to.

Dash’s mother gazes at him steadily, her eyes soft and yet sad. “Why do you ask that question, Dash?”

Dash twisted his shirt in his hands. “No reason.” He mumbled.  
His mother beckoned to him, and he crawled up her knees and sat on her lap. He leaned his head against her torso, sighing in contentment. He knew his mother would never do anything to hurt him. He never sat on his father’s lap, only occasionally, when there was nowhere else to sit, or for pictures.  
“Well,” His mother began, her voice shaking a little. “When a man kisses somebody that isn’t his partner, it...means he’s fallen in love with someone else.”  
Dash stopped breathing. Had his father fallen in love with that woman?

“Why would they fall in love with another person?” Dash asked.

His mother let out a ragged breath. “There are a lot of reasons...” She inhaled and her voice came out a little stronger. “Dash? Why are you asking me this?”  
Dash looked up into his mother’s face, seeing the hurt and unquiet beneath her calm facade.  
“Daddy was kissing a woman,” He croaked out. “At the ATC. I saw him, and...” He buried his face in his mother again.  
\- - -

Maud stopped breathing, holding still, letting the emotions run through her. She knew this would happen. Of course she did. No Charming was free of the curse, no matter how deeply in love they were. Her husband was not different. And yet…

And yet, her heart felt like it was being pierced by thousands of tiny, white-hot knives. Her husband, Clement, the one she loved most in the world, had been with another woman. Another woman and touched him, had heard him laugh, had kissed him…

“Mommy?”

Maud just closed her eyes and let the feelings wash over her, let them tear at her heart and eyes and mind. She couldn’t let Dash see her cry. Who knows what he would think?  
Dash. Her son. The sweet, innocent child that was cursed to inherit the same plague as her husband, the one that had seen his own father with somebody else. He didn’t know what was happening, didn’t know this was how it would be for his two parents, didn’t know he was bound to the same fate of unfaithfulness and lies.

A tear escapes her eye, and she held her son against her hard, as though she could shield him from everything with her touch. “Mommy...” Dash asks tentatively. “Does daddy not love you anymore?”  
Oh, he should not have said that. Because having the question that had been burning inside her head for months stated so plainly like that, out loud, makes it painfully obvious.

Does Daddy not love you anymore?

“Mommy, why are you crying?” Dash says, distressed.

Maud realizes she IS crying, shuddering sobs and she plants a kiss on the top of Dash’s head. She answers his question with what he wants to hear. “Of course he does.”  
Dash looks...skeptical. Her own son is skeptical that his parents love each other. How did this happen? Has her own child noticed something she hasn’t?  
“Does...does daddy still love me?” Dash says quietly.

Maud nodded heatedly. “Of course he does. He will always love you, Dash. He’s your father. No matter what happens, he will always love you.”

But maybe she sounds a little too desperate when she says that, because Dash looks even less confident. She lets out a shaking sob, and realizes that she has to tell him. She hadn’t wanted to tell him when he was so young. Oh, he had heard it more than a few times, from the criers and whatnot, but six-year-olds have a small attention span, and the information went in one ear and out the other. But telling him, to his face...it would stay with him forever. How can inform your six-year-old that he’s cursed?

She steels herself for what will come next. And she tells him.

She tells him that his ancestor fell for a witch, and broke her heart. She tells him how he payed the price. She tells him about the curse, and what it makes the Charmings do. She told him that he was condemned to suffer for what his ancestor did...as was his father.  
When she’s finished, Dash looks so lost and sad and scared that Maud wishes she could just say it was all a joke. But that would hurt him more, in the long run. So she stays there, in silence, tears dripping off her nose onto Dash’s face.

“So...” Dash says slowly and confusedly. “Daddy still loves us?”

Maud nodded. “Yes.”

She holds her son and prays that she’s right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I don’t know why I enjoy torturing poor Dash, he really doesn’t deserve it!  
> I have a few thoughts and questions about the curse, but mostly they’re ‘what if’ questions. If Clement was Bisexual, would he try to charm his own son? It’s horrible to think about, but I do wonder if the curse works like that. The truth is, the curse is pretty terrible if you think about it. Being forced to kiss (and do other things with) somebody you wouldn’t otherwise do those things with unless under influence from something HAS to be a dark existence. Not to mention hurting the person you’re truly in love with every time you are forced to do it.  
> Imagine smiling and waving off your partners tears while inside you’re screaming, wanting to say you do love them, you wish you never did it, and the only person you love is them.  
> I’m not sure if King Clement even loves his wife or son anymore. I think maybe he did in the beginning, but the curse just consumed everything he did until he lost himself in it. Maybe he wasn’t exactly a nice person before the curse, but I’m sure he at least felt some affection for his family.

**Author's Note:**

> I think they would have had another All Tyme Championships, so this story takes place a day after it, or at least around it. And yes, I think Rapunzel is actually a pretty strong character, so deal with it.  
> P.S, if she came off as a little spoiled here, it’s because A: technically, she was, and B: she’s sleepy.


End file.
